The Academy said on its website that it had received a letter from Dylan explaining that due to “pre-existing commitments” he was unable to travel to Stockholm in December.

“We look forward to Bob Dylan’s Nobel Lecture, which he must give ― it is the only requirement ― within six months counting from December 10,” it said in a statement, adding that it would provide additional information on Friday Nov. 18.

The lecture need not be delivered in Stockholm. When British novelist Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel literature prize in 2007, she composed a lecture and sent it to her Swedish publisher, who read it out at a ceremony in the Swedish capital.

Other Nobel Prize winners who have not attended the prize ceremony include Britain’s Harold Pinter and Elfriede Jelinek of Austria.